In the use of a steam iron of the type referred to in the steam mode, there occurs the problem of uneven temperature distribution on the soleplate. In the area where the water to be evaporated is dispensed dropwise, the bottom of the steam generating chamber is subjected to severe cooling as a result of heat abstraction caused by the evaporating action. For reasons of construction, the drop impingement location is conventionally provided in the proximity of the pointed end of the soleplate. As a result, in the steam mode the temperature of the soleplate is relatively insufficient in the entire region near the forward point of the soleplate. This results in poor evaporation and a concomitant reduced production of steam, in addition to tending to produce the undesired effect that drops exit from the outlet ports of the steam conducting channels. Further, the ironing results are unsatisfactory, especially in the ironing of areas that are only accessible by the pointed end of the soleplate.
With the aim to improving evaporation in the steam generating chamber, a steam iron known from FR-A 2 337 780 provides beneath the drop dispensing device for the water to be evaporated an inclined surface which is formed by the bottom of the steam generating chamber and includes striations on which mineral deposits develop. Water strikes dropwise the upper end of the inclined surface directly above the heating element, evaporating in part already there or as it flows downwards and away from the heating element towards the forward end of the steam chamber. Also in this arrangement, the water to be evaporated invariably strikes the same location in the forward portion of the soleplate, causing relatively severe cooling of this portion and producing an adverse temperature difference relative to other portions of the soleplate.
It is an object of the present invention to configure in a steam iron of the type initially referred to the introduction of water into the steam generating chamber in such a fashion that in the steam mode the temperature is as uniform as possible in all portions of the soleplate.